Differential regulation of STARD1, STARD4 and STARD6 in the human ovary.

ABSTRACT: Cells actively engaged in de novo steroidogenesis rely on an expansive intracellular network to efficiently transport cholesterol. The final link in the transport chain is STARD1, which transfers cholesterol to the enzyme complex that initiates steroidogenesis. However, the regulation of ovarian STARD1 is not fully characterized, and even less is known about the upstream cytosolic cholesterol transporters STARD4 and STARD6. Here, we identified both STARD4 and STARD6 mRNAs in the human ovary but only detected STARD4 protein since the primary STARD6 transcript turned out to be a splice variant. Corpora lutea contained the highest levels of STARD4 and STARD1 mRNA and STARD1 protein, while STARD4 protein was uniformly distributed across ovarian tissues. Cyclic AMP analog (8Br-cAMP) and phorbol

SUBMITTER: Yahya NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11267794 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature